While the Washington State labeling initiative appears to have been defeated, being outspent by opponents by a ratio of nearly 3-1, and with the focus now shifting to labeling initiatives in Oregon, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, we look at other important stories that you may have missed in the pre-election buzz.

Analyzing over 20 years of data, two researchers concluded that pesticide use, not habitat loss, was the most important factor contributing to widespread declines in populations of U.S. grassland birds.

European Food Safety Authority’s analysis of neonicotinioids acknowledged a number of serious risks to bees associated with their use. The agency recommended that, among other things, these systemic pesticides be only used on crops not attractive to honey bees.

A recent study found that a combination of two pesticides impairs the natural foraging behavior of bumblebees, increases worker mortality as well as increases the propensity of bumblebee colonies to fail.

A judge recently ordered Fish and Wildlife Services to halt the planting of genetically engineered crops on the national wildlife land in the Southeast Region. Similar result eluded environmental groups in a related lawsuit over GMO use on refuge lands in the Midwest Region.

There was no shortage of vitriol against a new long-term GMO study showing cancers in rats fed GM maize, as well as those fed Roundup, in amounts well below the officially set safety limits. Is the orchestrated response to discredit Seralini et al anti-science?

Reactions to EPA’s refusal to suspend the registration of clothianidin, given the mounting scientific evidence that this systemic poison poses an imminent hazard to bees, have been strong and unequivocal.

Citing concerns over massive decline in bee populations due to Colony Collapse Disorder, the French health and safety authority said it will ban the use of Syngenta’s pesticide, Cruiser OSR, used for rapeseed crops coating.

With even more scientific studies linking systemic pesticides to bee deaths, beekeepers and environmental organizations petition EPA to suspend clothianidin, a pesticide that got a free pass from registration requirements.

The chemical system of weed control is a gift that keeps on giving, spreading superweeds that withstand up to 64 times the recommended application of 2,4-D toxin and are resistant to multiple pesticides.

While massive bee die offs have been occurring for more than half a decade, the connection between colony collapse disorder and pesticides, particularly serious concern about systemic pesticides, has been downplayed by the EPA and the industry.

It’s hard to imagine American agriculture without bees and, yet, we may be seeing the end of beekeeping following years of mysterious collapses of honey bee colonies in the United States and the world.

Faced with another government agency’s failure to follow the laws, advocate groups had to resort to the courts yet again, making the judicial system the last stopgap for even the most sensible environmental policy.

A new army of out-of-control herbicide-resistant weeds has many farmers across agricultural states returning to the very same practices that the chemical “miracle” was supposed to eliminate. Our in depth look at the emerged battleground and solutions.